Leslye Penelope Reviews The Faithless by C.L. Clark

The Faithless, C.L. Clark (Orbit 978-0-316-54276-0, $18.99, 512pp, tp) March 2023.

C.L. Clark’s debut novel, The Unbroken, burst onto the scene in 2021 as part of a much lauded Sapphic trifecta that includ­ed Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine Throne and Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became The Sun. In The Unbroken, we met Touraine, a lieutenant in the division of the Balladairan army known derisively as the Sands, men and women from the empire’s colonized nations of Shalān, conscripted into service as small children. Raised as a second-class citizen who longed to be first-class, Touraine spent much of that book fighting to protect her fellow Sands in ways that ultimately proved disastrous for many she cared about. Her loyalty to them and desire to prove herself in the eyes of her op­pressors superseded her loyalty to the land of her birth, Qazāl, and her own blood kin. Added to this tension were her growing feelings for Balladairan princess Luca, whose sympathy for those under the heel of her own nation battled her desire to wrest control of the monarchy from her uncle, the Duke Regent.

The second entry in Clark’s Magic of the Lost trilogy, The Faithless, picks up approximately a year after the events of the first novel in the af­termath of the Qazāli revolution, where Princess Luca’s decision to grant the nation its sovereignty has made her task of becoming queen even more difficult. Her Uncle Nicolas’s grip on the mon­archy is iron-fisted, and in this particular game of thrones, he outmaneuvers Luca at every turn. Meanwhile, the extraordinary measures taken by the Qazāli to ensure their freedom have resulted in catastrophic turmoil. The former rebels who make up the new government are in desperate need of aid and are discovering just how difficult it is to create a nation.

The two main protagonists struggle with their potent attraction, which time, distance, and a healthy dose of betrayal have done little to squelch. Luca is also still pursuing her quest to recover Balladairan magic, which has long been banished from the empire. However, another rebellion is brewing, and both Luca and Touraine will face enemies from all sides as they fight to aid their respective peoples.

Clark wields a deft hand, painting characters who are nuanced, scarred inside and out, and deeply human. The characters are, in fact, so flawed that at no point can either woman be termed a hero. Touraine and Luca are leaders, either by birthright or circumstance, placed by others into uncomfortable positions where they’re out of their depth.

Fans of court intrigue will delight in the chess moves (or échecs, if you will) between Luca and Duke Regent Nicolas, a cruel and calculating vil­lain who, while truly formidable, fails to be quite as nuanced as the other characters. His clever manipulations keep him a frustrating step or two ahead of Luca. And the fact that so many lives and futures hang on the outcome of their competition keeps the stakes high.

The novel also expands the world, delving into new character perspectives, including Pruett, Touraine’s fellow Sand and former lover, who has taken over training the new recruits in the Qazāli army. Her storyline shines due to the force of her personality. Irreverent and intemperate, she is a welcome addition to some of the more earnest and intense POVs. I felt her subplot could have used more time to develop and wrapped up leaving me wishing for more pages to understand exactly what went down.

Clark’s worldbuilding in The Faithless is just as stellar as in The Unbroken, with the North African-inspired lands of Shalān now contrasted with a Balladaire sketched with a light touch as a European analog. The hand of the gods graces these nations and as various forms of magic are revealed, the characters grapple with questions about the nature of faith and sacrifice.

The story moves into overdrive in the final third, where all the plots and plans come to an explosive head. For a novel which hinges so much on deci­sions of state made for reasons of the heart, the emotional tether could have been stronger. Fans of romantic fantasy will yearn for more fireworks in the chemistry between Touraine and Luca; however, their longing is undeniable and their decisions could only come from a deep well of emotion as opposed to cold logic.

Where the novel and series shine brightest is in their gritty reckoning with power and human­ity and their delivery of an uncompromising worldview in which there are few good choices, especially when it comes to leading nations. Alli­ances, like magic, require deep sacrifice and any gains are accompanied by heartbreaking losses. It makes for gripping storytelling. We root for Luca to succeed not because she has proven herself to be the master tactician, but because we have seen the alternative and it is untenable. But can even a well-intentioned queen, in love with a soldier-turned-ambassador representing a former colony, hold an empire together when all of its people aren’t free? I suspect we will find out in book three of the series.

This review and more like it in the September 2023 issue of Locus.

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